BCFC: Time To Talk

Four defeats on the spin and once again, things seem to be looking grim at St Andrew’s. In just a couple of weeks I’ve seen people going from offering public apologies to manager Steve Cotterill to demanding his head once again.

Brentford was a hard watch.

As much as people want to blame Cotterill, I don’t think it’s all his fault.

Well known Blues fan and “twitter face” TheSpecialRon nailed a lot of what I think in this thread he posted on Twitter. I’m not going to repeat it all here but in essence the point he eloquently makes is that Blues are paying for mistakes that have been made before Cotterill’s appointment.

It was interesting watching the game on Blues TV because Dale Moon and Kevan Broadhurst don’t seem to have got the memo about being positive regarding everything Blues.

Both commentators laid into the team – deservedly so – for some terrible passages of play, and I can’t help but wonder if Cotterill appreciates the criticism he’s getting from the “in-house” broadcasters.

It’s a shame really because if Dale and Kevan are indeed given free reign to call the games as they are and not with any kind of positive spin, then that free reign should be given across the club to call out mistakes.

After all, while self-examination is painful, it can help prevent people from making the same mistakes twice.

I’ve spoken before about an “axis of incompetence” – and I believe it’s these people who are most to blame for where the club finds itself now.

However, what I want people to realise is it’s not just about them being incompetent – which I believe they are, in spades.

It’s the absolute refusal from any of those people to accept any blame.

The absolute refusal to even talk about their decisions; the refusal to do anything but to continue merrily along their way safe in the knowledge that no one is going to ask any questions.

People at the club can’t say anything.

As employees they are risking their jobs and their livelihoods by saying anything negative about the powers that be; and as much as I like principles, principles don’t pay the mortgage.

Likewise the media aren’t asking questions either.

I’m not going to blame individual people within the media because the people I know who cover Blues all care deeply about the situation. There are issues deep within media itself which prevent people who want to do more from doing so.

That leaves us – the fans.

I’ve spoken to people on social media in the last week who are critical of the club; who demand communication from the owners and an understanding of “fan culture”. I get all of that – but I think fans need to understand what communication they want – and what they are going to do if they don’t get it.

I only ever speak for myself.

I’m unsure if I should even give my ideas for what I want to hear because I don’t want people to just blindly agree with me – I want people to think about these things for themselves, to self-examine – and to understand what it is that bothers them about the club right now.

However, if anyone was to ask me what I wanted to know – these three would be starters for me.

Will the club reassure fans that the club is doing what it can to ensure that it will both be able to meet FFP guidelines and remain competitive in the next transfer window?

Will the club confirm who has the last say on transfers – and if it is not the manager, why it is not the manager?

Do the club have a financial contingency plan in the event of relegation?

I can only do so much. The club can and do ignore me with ease. However, if more of us come together and fight for our club, then it will be harder for them to ignore us.